


Long Days and Longer Hugs

by firstdegreefangirl



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Banter, Coffee, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Tim Bradford is the smittenest kitten, but only after the hug, he'd do anything for lucy, hug porn, including buy her coffee, it's a whole thing, mentioned in/of a supsect, not of an actual character, soft, they're so in love, this is soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24385261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstdegreefangirl/pseuds/firstdegreefangirl
Summary: On the bright side, he got to see Lucy on almost every call he worked. Of course, since they’re not riding together anymore, that mostly meant a lot of scenes where things got out of hand and someone had to call for backup.After an incredibly long shift, Tim and Lucy leave work together.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 144





	Long Days and Longer Hugs

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of my love of what I'm calling Hug Porn - where the whole fic is just a really long hug moment - and the emotional residue from the season finale. Also a hearty helping of Daisy in my DMs, egging me on. Love youuuu! <3

It’s all Tim can do to find the energy to button his flannel before he leaves the locker room. 

He’s no stranger to long shifts, but in almost 15 years with the LAPD, he can count on one hand the number of times he’s been this drained at the end of a day. 

On the bright side, he got to see Lucy on almost every call he worked. Of course, since they’re not riding together anymore, that mostly meant a lot of scenes where things got out of hand and someone had to call for backup. His morning started with a murder-suicide, delivering death notices with Angela. Then they helped Lucy and Jackson wind down a pursuit suspect, the chase carrying them almost all the way into lunch. 

A lunch that was cut short when their radios went off again, sending them to direct traffic around a four-car pileup on the highway. As if that hadn’t been bad enough, as if the universe hadn’t stuck him with enough crap in his day, 20 minutes before they were supposed to clock off, Lucy’s voice crackled over the radio. 

“Seven-Adam-27, requesting backup, airship and SWAT, armed and barricaded suspect at our location.” 

Tim looks at Angela, who’s already looking at him, and reaches for the siren switch. 

“She sounds terrified.” 

“She’s doing great, Tim. You trained her well, you hear how concise that was? We’ll go back them up, but she’s a good cop. You know that.” 

“Yeah …" He lets Angela radio back, thinking about the tremor in Lucy’s voice. Angela’s right, he knows. She’s a good cop, she can hold her own. But she shouldn’t have to, not if she’s asking for backup. He races to the coordinates dispatch reads off, pushing the limits of safe driving, even for the circumstances, turns onto the block right behind the SWAT van. “Ready for this?” He turns to Angela as they get out of the shop, pulling the guns from their holsters. 

“As ever. Think they’ll let me be the sniper?” She laughs, knowing as well as he does that SWAT doesn’t like to let the uniform officers play with their roles on a scene. 

Tim chuckles, jogging over to kneel next to Lucy, who’s crouched down beside a shrub under the front window. 

“What’ve we got, Boot?” He touches her shoulder lightly, trying to gauge her reaction. 

“He’s got a hostage. She … she’s seven. His stepdaughter; he picked her up from school early today for a doctor’s appointment, but the doctor’s office called mom when they didn’t show. Apparently, he’s trying to wean himself off of antipsychotics, keeps saying that the girl is out to get him, trying to ruin his life.” 

“Priors?” He tries to ignore the look on her face, push against his own worries so they can both do their jobs. 

“Domestic violence a few years back, but that’s about it.” She keeps flicking her eyes back into the house, where they can see the little girl zip-tied to a kitchen chair, and Tim feels a knot in his own stomach. 

Of everything he could have used, it had to be zip ties? It’s not even close to the most upsetting part of the story on paper, but Tim knows Lucy, knows she noticed, and sees the way she’s rubbing at her own wrists. 

The wounds are healed, but the scars won’t go away. 

“Hey.” He waits for her to look at him. “SWAT will talk to him, see if he’ll send her out before they breach. They train for this, Chen.” 

Lucy bites her lip when she nods, but the negotiator starts talking through a megaphone before she can say anything else. When he sees how Lucy keeps looking back into the house, staring directly at where the girl is restrained, Tim shifts to let his knee rest against Lucy’s hip. 

“What do you know about hostage situations? C’mon, Boot, you know what this is. Talk to me.” 

It’s been close to a year since she was his rookie, but Tim still knows how to keep Lucy focused at work. 

(He knows how to keep her focused when they’re not at work too, but some how he thinks there’d be some questions to answer if any of those tactics came up on their bodycam footage.) 

“Um … he thinks he’s got the power as long as there’s someone innocent in there.” 

“But?” 

“But he lost control as soon as SWAT showed up. They train enough that it’s hard to predict their next move if you don’t know what they’ve learned.” 

“Good. And?” 

“And … and if she’s his stepdaughter, maybe deep down he knows he doesn’t want to hurt her. He’s just desperate and panicking.” She sighs and looks back through the window, where their suspect is shouting through the door, telling the SWAT team to stand down or he’ll kill the girl. 

“Not exactly tactical, but I hope you’re right.” 

Tim doesn’t know how much time has passed until he glances down at his watch and sees that he and Lucy both should have been off work close to three hours ago. They haven’t moved; can’t give up the vantage point until the situation is secured. 

But he’s got a feeling that they’re getting close, when the negotiator asks the suspect to send the girl out and he does. 

“Good, see there? He let her g--” Whatever Tim was going to say next disappears with the sound of a gunshot, as the suspect turns his weapon on himself and pulls the trigger. 

He hears Lucy’s sharp inhale, but there’s no time to check in with her. Everything happens all at once, SWAT clearing the house and LAFD removing the suspect’s body. Just as quickly as it started, everything clears out, and the two uniform units are left with the scene until crime scene techs can come collect evidence. 

Which is how Tim and Lucy end up sitting around the dining room table with Jackson and Angela. The four of them are telling stories and laughing, but Tim keeps looking at Lucy out the corner of his eye, trying to gauge how she’s taking it. 

He doesn’t get a chance to ask her before they’re back in their respective shops and returning to the station. Grey meets them in the bullpen with a list of the reports that have to be turned in before they leave, and an order that they all take the next day off, since they’ve already worked most of a double shift. 

They sit separately to do their paperwork, knowing it will be faster than if they’re distracting each other. He can see the way exhaustion pulls her shoulders down, feel the stress of the day radiating off of her, and can tell that she just wants to go home. 

That’s all he wants too, all he can think about as he fights with his fingers to fasten the button on his jeans and set to work on his shirt: a quiet evening with his girlfriend, food neither of them cooked, and something mindless on TV they can fall asleep to. 

He’s waiting for her when she steps out of the locker room, holding out his hand to take the hanger bag her uniform is zipped into and carry it with his own. 

This much is routine, at least, even if they’re running a few hours behind schedule. They walk side-by-side through the division, both uniforms slung over Tim’s outside shoulder. He leaves his other hand free, expecting Lucy to reach down and tangle their fingers together like she normally does, but he doesn’t push it when she tucks her hands in the pockets of the sweatshirt she’s wearing. 

It's not her sweatshirt, which should be obvious to any and everyone they walk past, given the way that it sags off of her frame and the sleeves are bunched up at the elbows so her hands will poke out the ends. 

But Tim doesn’t comment on that either, knows that there’s a 50-50 chance on a day like today that she’ll think he’s trying to ask for the garment back. As if he wouldn’t let her wear anything he owns, as long as he can see the way she lights up when he tosses his shirts at her when they’re getting ready for bed. 

He lets his mind wander, circling through these observations and others, all of them about Lucy, as he leads her to his truck and clicks the remote on his keychain. He pulls the back door open, hangs the uniforms on the hook. But when he turns for his own door, he sees that Lucy is standing against the handle, slouching and running her hands up and down her arms. 

It’s her easiest tell, the best way for Tim to know she’s upset about something. And right now, he knows what it is, and what to do about it. 

He steps toward her, holding his arms out in a silent invitation as he closes the space between them. But it’s not until he smiles that she pushes off of the truck, tipping her entire weight into his chest. Her arms lock around his waist as he staggers backward slightly, not expecting to have to catch her so quickly. 

Tim brings his arms around her shoulders as he rebalances them both. He’s still supporting her almost entirely, knows that if he let go, he’d be picking her up off the pavement. 

It’s a good thing he doesn’t ever want to let her go. 

His chin comes to rest on top of her head, the height difference between them just perfect for him to completely envelope her in his embrace, protect her from all sides, whatever the world might try to throw at them. One of his feet slides forward, pressing their bodes together all the way from the top of her head down to his knees. 

One of Lucy’s hands twists in the back of his flannel as the other drops low enough for her to tuck one of her thumbs through the belt loop at the back of his pants. He can feel the way she’s shaking in his arms and starts rubbing broad strokes across her back. 

There’s no checking his watch this time, not when that would mean letting go of Lucy. So Tim doesn’t know how long they stand there together, in the Mid-Wilshire parking garage. He can hear other officers walking by, but pays them no mind. 

It occurs to him as he holds her that this is the most vulnerable he’s ever been, one of just a few instances as far back as he can remember where at least part of his focus hasn’t been on his surroundings. 

That should scare the shit out of him, but it doesn’t. Not when he only has to bend his neck a little bit to press gentle kisses into her hair, not when he feels her knuckles pressing against his back, her face buried in his chest. 

Tim would give almost anything to be at home right now. He’s pretty sure that if they’d left when they got to the truck, they’d be on his sofa right now, cold beer in his hand and a glass of wine in hers, settling in for the evening. 

He’d give almost anything, but not this moment. He’d never give up any moment he could spend with Lucy, even if it’s a quiet embrace in a parking garage. 

His arms tighten around her shoulders, and he can feel the way she relaxes even deeper into his grasp, letting go of the back of his shirt so she can trace her fingers up and down his spine. 

Her breathing is starting to even out, and the shivers have almost entirely subsided. They’re nearing the point where holding each other for too much longer is going to become uncomfortable. Muscles will start cramping, Tim’s shoulder will go stiff and he’ll have to ice it down when they get home. 

But it will be worth it, he knows, for the way Lucy comes so readily to him when she needs support. He can feel his legs starting to falter, not used to supporting another entire human, however much smaller than him she may be, for this long. 

But he can’t stand the thought of stepping back. Neither of them can. 

Until a loud gurgle comes up from Lucy’s stomach, echoing faintly off the parking garage walls. Tim raises his eyebrows and smirks, even though he knows Lucy can’t see his face. 

She freezes for a moment, then turns her head, digging the end of her nose into his chest. Her body starts shaking again, but this time he knows it’s a reaction to the laughter bubbling out of her mouth, not the stress of her shift. 

Tim starts laughing too, can’t help the urge to press his face into Lucy’s hair and acknowledge the unexpected interruption. 

After a moment, he steps back, letting his hands slip down her arms and tangling their fingers together, still grinning. 

“C’mon, Boot. We’ll pick something up on the way home. My treat.” He intends to walk her around the truck, open her door for her before he gets in the driver’s side. 

But when he drops one of her hands, she reaches behind herself and pops the latch on his door. Before he can ask what she’s doing, she steps up into the truck and slides across the bench seats to the middle seatbelt. 

He raises an eyebrow in question, but he’s not actually surprised. She’s always looking for an excuse to sit in the tiny half-seat while Tim drives, lean her head on his shoulder and hold his hand. 

Not that he’s complaining, because it also means that she’s close enough that he can kiss her gently at red lights and watch the way she smiles up at him as he pulls forward into the intersection. 

So Tim climbs in next to her, fastening his seat belt and starting the engine as she leans her head on his shoulder. As soon as the truck is in drive, she’s reaching for his hand, and he thinks it more than makes up for how she was too drained to do that as they walked out of the station earlier. 

He glances at the clock on the dashboard as he turns out of the parking lot, and tries to remember which restaurants are open at 11:30 at night. 

“What sounds good? We can stop at Mazzio’s, grab a pizza? I’m pretty sure that Mexican place you like is still open, want to call something in?” 

Lucy hesitates before she answers, shrugging against his side. 

“Um … actually, can we just go to Wendy’s? It’s been a long day, and their nuggets are secretly really good. Besides, they have a new coffee drink that’s got ice cream in it, and it’s really good. Especially the vanilla.” 

“No. Absolutely not.” Tim rolls his eyes. “I’ll take you to Wendy’s. I’ll even buy your nuggets. But I will not participate in the desecration of coffee like that.” 

Lucy giggles, playing with Tim’s fingers where their hands are resting on his thigh. 

“Don’t think of it as coffee, then. Think of it as … a coffee-flavored milkshake.” She tips her head back to laugh when Tim narrows his eyes at her and lifts an eyebrow. “Fine. Think of it as something that’ll keep your girlfriend awake long enough to shower and change clothes before she crawls into your bed and sleeps until noon tomorrow.” 

“Well, when you put it like that …" Tim pretends to be considering the implications, even though he’s well aware that they both know he’d never turn Lucy down anything she asks of him. Even if it means swallowing his pride long enough to order her sorry substitute for coffee at a drive-through. “You know, since we’re both exhausted, maybe we should save a little bit of time when we get home, just run the shower once.” 

He runs his thumb across the back of her hand as he pulls into the drive-through line, turning his head to kiss her hair gently after the truck is stopped. 

“Hmm …" Lucy smiles, tipping her face up for another kiss. “If you’re saying I won’t have to wash my own hair, then you’ve got a deal. Because I don’t think I can lift my arms right now.” 

Tim lets go of her hand, and she frowns at him until he drapes his arm across her back and starts gently kneading her shoulder. Her head slides down to his chest, and Lucy sighs as she shifts her body to be able to wrap an arm across his midsection. The seatbelt pulls tight, and they both know they’ll have to untangle themselves long enough for Tim to drive home. 

But for the time being, he never thought he’d be so glad to have to wait in line at a Wendy’s after a 14-hour shift. 

And that’s the only thing on his mind as he pulls up to the speaker and rolls his window down. 

“I think that can be arranged.” He leans toward the window. “We’ll do a 10-piece nugget meal and a double cheeseburger meal, two cokes.” Lucy’s arm tightens around his stomach and he sighs. “And … one of the vanilla ice cream coffee things.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Wendy's really does sell that drink. Yes, it's incredible. No, this isn't sponsored. But no, I wouldn't turn it down if they wanted to hook me up in exchange for plugging them in my fic. 
> 
> I'll still be back Wednesday with an update, AND I finished the first draft of my very long 2.18 divergent fic the other day, so that's on the way too.
> 
> Comments and kudos make the indefinite hiatus go by a little faster!
> 
> xoxo


End file.
